I think I know whats Wrong . . . .

I think I've figured out whats been wrong with more modern Edition of D&D. D&D was created and written by (pretty much) two people Arneson and Gygax. With Gary doing most of the writing and the pushing forward of the product.

When it came down to the Moldav Red Box set, the most popular version of BD&D was pretty much down to the efforts of one man.

Lets jump forward to 3rd/3.5 - with 3.X edition D&D - we have more Cooks (sorry Monte, no pun intended) - Monte Cook, Jonathan Tweet, and Skip Williams. Even so, it's pretty much just a couple of men at its core.

4th (arrgh) Edition and D&D Next have a design TEAM - a Committee designing/planning things. For me (and a lot of people) D&D 4th was a disaster - to wishy washy (nice looking, but style emphasized at the expense of substance), no real peril for the players (a lot of Hit-Points at first level, Healing Surges etc), Players only have the illusion of Freedom (its Carrot and Donkey Roleplaying at its worst IMHO).

I ran a LOT of Games, even Did library visits - I really REALLY tried to like it. But at the end of the Day it's more product than passion - and that just turns me off.

A Great Game - of all kinds, Miniatures, RPG, Boardgame, or whatever - needs a strong hand at the helm, and needs to be the vision of one or two people. Doing things by endless committee never works (just look at the British and US Governments) - when will they ever learn.

The 'Ages' of D&D

Something slightly different today.

I Ran across this blog post by a Mr James Malizewski and thought some of you might find it an interesting read . .

Basically, James takes a look at the history of the game through a Series of "Ages" similar to the "ages of mankind" which the ancient Greek Hesiod used to describe the passage of human history.

The idea is that history Begins with a 'Golden Age' and then descends through the baser metals as Time goes on and the world changes (and not always for the better).

http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2009/01/ages-of-d.html

You will notice in the comments section, there are some interesting debates about viewing the game's history through that prism (or any of Several others).

I am 100% in agreement with him to be frank (and posted a comment to that fact) and just wanted to pass the link on.

I really don't think he's alone in the feeling that change isn't always for the best . . . . . . .

Keep Rollin'